News stories from Thursday January 8, 1981

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

A qualified pledge to honor any accord made by President Carter with Iran to free the American hostages was given by Ronald Reagan, but he said he reserved the right to make new proposals if the crisis has not been resolved when he becomes President on Jan. 20. Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher conferred in Algiers with the Algerian Foreign Minister on questions raised by the Algerian intermediaries over Washington's proposals to Iran.Efforts to resolve the hostage crisis have been complicated by legal questions over the extent of President Carter's authority to meet Iran's demands. American lawyers representing Iranian interests have quietly been helping Teheran's leaders evaluate the apparent legal obstacles. But differences of opinion may have increased Iran's skepticism about the the extent of Mr. Carter's authority. [New York Times] A markedly lower budget deficit than was projected only a few weeks ago for the next fiscal year is now estimated by the Carter administration, according to administration officials. They said the deficit would be about $30 billion. The deficit for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, is now projected at $57 billion. This is less than some analysts had feared, but it does not take into account the costly tax cut endorsed by President-elect Reagan. [New York Times] Caspar Weinberger has insisted that he will not become Secretary of Defense unless he may name his own deputy, according to sources on the Reagan transition team. They said that Mr. Weinberger planned to appoint Frank Carlucci, a longtime associate who has been Deputy Director of Central Intelligence in the Carter administration. [New York Times] Shunning politics in governing was ordered by President-elect Reagan at a meeting with his cabinet, according to his press spokesman. He said that Mr. Reagan had told the department chiefs that citing the political ramifications of a decision was a "no-no." [New York Times] A desegregation suit will be filed by the Justice Department against the Charleston County School District in South Carolina. The department said that state and county officials had refused to propose a desegregation plan and that the suit would be filed before President Carter left office. [New York Times] An admitted Soviet spy was sentenced by a federal district judge to serve 18 years in prison. David Barnett, who confessed last year to selling sensitive intelligence information to Moscow while he worked for the C.I.A., will be eligible for parole in 1987. [New York Times] Electric power failed throughout Utah and in parts of Idaho and Wyoming for up to six hours. About 1.5 million people were affected by the blackout, which was attributed to a series of utility breakdowns. [New York Times] Influenza is sweeping the country, with epidemics occurring in several regions, the Centers for Disease Control reported. The agency said that Massachusetts, Montana and Alaska, as well as New York City, reported widespread outbreaks of flu last week. [New York Times] Impropriety in an Abscam inquiry was suggested by two Justice Department lawyers in court testimony. They said they had criticized a key agent investigating political corruption because they felt he was "putting words" into the mouth of Senator Harrison Williams that would be used in prosecuting him on bribery charges. The trial of the New Jersey Democrat is set to begin next month. [New York Times] Years of worsening drought may be in prospect for New York City and upstate areas, according to long-range forecasting by a professor who teaches atmospheric science. The professor, Douglas Paine, has developed a theory based on charting the activity of sunspots -- the solar disturbances that affect energy reaching the earth and influence weather patterns. [New York Times] Afghan rebels may lose the support that Pakistan has indirectly given them, according to Asian diplomats at the United Nations. [New York Times] Iraqi officials derided Iran over its assertions of a counteroffensive, accusing Teheran's leaders of giving their people false hope with announcements of major victories. The Iraqi statements were closer to the assessments of Western analysts. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 965.70 (-15.19, -1.55%)
S&P Composite: 133.06 (-2.02, -1.50%)
Arms Index: 1.86

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	574	11.72
Declines	1,028	39.06
Unchanged	325	4.57
Total Volume		55.35

* in millions of shares

Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish.

Market Index Trends
Date	DJIA	S&P	Volume*
January 7, 1981	980.89	135.08	92.88
January 6, 1981	1004.69	138.12	67.40
January 5, 1981	992.66	137.97	58.71
January 2, 1981	972.78	136.34	28.86
December 31, 1980	963.99	135.76	41.21
December 30, 1980	962.03	135.33	39.75
December 29, 1980	960.58	135.03	36.05
December 26, 1980	966.38	136.57	16.13
December 24, 1980	963.05	135.88	29.48
December 23, 1980	958.28	135.00	55.25